My Study "Ends"

Day thirty has come and gone, and I'm so busy that it's hard to find time to write. My latest escapade is Twitter Marketing, which I'm trying after reading an e-book on how to make money online. It's surprisingly easy--establish your niche, provide quality content (often by subscribing to the RSS feeds of related blogs that you know and trust), and then sell only the best products. You can open as many accounts as you want in as many niches as you want, and selling as many products as you want. This method is actually much more work than it sounds, but I'm taking it one niche at a time, for now focusing only on my Online Income account. The trickiest thing is building a following, as last time I checked I had only about twenty-seven people. But I'm following more and hopefully it will build up (supposedly I can pass a thousand in a month if I do it right). If I have a thousand people on each of ten different accounts, and if only three or four of them buys anything per week, I'll have reached my goal! The best part is that it's mostly automated, and I can be sure of providing people with quality insight and content, which has been one of my biggest fears about monetizing Twitter.

In other news, results, etc.: I am now making three times my original rate at Neobux. Granted, twenty cents a day is still pathetic, but at this rate I'm expecting it to pick up nicely. Now it should be only about three or four days until I can rent my next three referrals, and then very soon after until I can rent three more. I've had bad luck with Clixsense lately, only making a few pennies a day instead of dollars, but hopefully it won't matter too much--I should be able to upgrade my account soon anyway, since my sponsor doesn't seem to be following through. I do have a good $3 coming in for sure next week from Protypers.

As for getting paid to draw, I took and drew several pictures I thought would be good... but they weren't high enough resolution to sell. I'll see if there's anything I can do to fix that, and if not I'll have to request a refund, as I just don't have the supplies needed.

I have not been paid yet from Richgo PTR, and I expect I never will. That makes it painful to go on the site every day and watch several ads to remain "in good standing." I'll admit, the way they do the payments is sketchy. They pay out only $50,000 a week, supposedly, and upgraded members (again supposedly) get first dibs, and they're drawn at random. The only way I can get paid is if they genuinely run out of upgraded members demanding payment and just so happen to draw my name instead. So... this would be kind of like winning the lottery, only with a lot more work put into it. I don't know if I'll bother waiting the full thirty days or not.

This blog, as you already know, has been a total failure in terms of making money. I did what I was supposed to, but it went nowhere. I also fell dramatically short of my goal of $100 a week--making a measly $5-10 a week instead. But I still have two months to figure it out before my wedding, and there are still many options I haven't tried yet! As I continue to earn money and re-invest it, I'm able to move on to more and more advanced options and services. I'm hoping to climb it like a ladder and stop after I've reached my goal.

As the thirty days have now ended, this blog will probably cease to be much of a priority for me. I'll try to keep you posted on the big things, but I really have much more important stuff going on in my life right now. Cheers!

Day 25: What if Your Dreams Came True?

All right, I have a question for you: what would you do if your dreams came true? More specifically, what would you do if someone suddenly gave you $10,000? The reason I ask is shocking: that same thing might be happening soon... to me. Yeah, it looks like one of my online gigs is paying off big time! I'm a bit overwhelmed at the thought for now, after just checking my account and realizing that within the next three days I should have payout.

I know this entry isn't much, and that's really the biggest thing I have to say. But it's also worth noting that I put some of my new online marketing skills into practice through Clickbank, though I have yet to have results.

Please follow me on Twitter for updates and tips on how to make money!

Day 22: A Hundred Dollars? Per Click?

I cringe when I think about how much I've been neglecting this blog. Views have been dropping too, and it's no wonder. The content isn't as fresh as it was a few weeks ago, the posts have gotten lazier and possibly less helpful to others, and I'm only writing one post a day now instead of three. And I'll confess--I've considered dropping this altogether. I've gotten so busy, and a certain number of my projects have been so promising, that I feel this log is no longer needed--its original purpose of making me money is completely obsolete, and I have a solid plan now that I'm following.

But I had decided to keep this up for thirty days, and so I figure I won't stop so close to finishing--in a little over a week I'll be all done with this, as far as my commitment goes, and I can focus on my wedding and my actual earning money instead of this study.

I mentioned yesterday that I've been making so much money that I wouldn't bother telling you because you wouldn't believe it. I'll tell you a little bit about it now, but first I want to mention a few things:

• I fully realize the following and programs like it could well be a total scam. I have invested no money into it and, for the most part, expect to receive no money in return.
• Yes, there are strings attached. Payouts take a suspiciously long time (thirty to ninety days after the request, or a "reasonable" amount of time after).
• I'm not putting all of my eggs in this basket, tempting though it is. I'm keeping up with Clixsense and Neobux, programs that I know and trust, at the same time.

I found some ridiculously good PTCs. Ridiculously! The lowest on the list pays ten cents per click, and the highest? How does $200 sound? Per click? Yeah, I'm suspicious too. But these programs were all free to join. The big hangup is that even though you could make several thousand dollars in a day, you'll be lucky to earn enough to cash out within the next month. So, unless a flock of you join up under my referral and start clicking on ads like mad, I won't have a check by any of these companies by the time I finish this blog--though, if such a check ever does come, I'll be sure to tell you and probably also show a proof.

Today, when I decided once again to look for a good data entry job, I found more--only with these sites, you could earn up to $1000 per click! What's the deal? (Well, part of it is that you have to earn over two million dollars before cashing out, in which case the money's as good as nonexistent.)

I'm still working it out, but if so much as one of these programs is NOT a scam... I could well have a six figure income as of next month. That would be nice. And, as I've joined a lot of these, hopefully at least one will pay out before I get married. Needless to say, all I care about is getting one hundred dollars a week by the beginning of August. And I'm looking at all the options. And this if one of these is legit, well, I've got it made.

Please follow me on Twitter for more tips and updates, or join me on Clixsense if you want to start making your own online cash. If your curious about joining a site like the ones I've mentioned above, Mail Cash 24 is one of my favorites so far. Good luck!

Day 21: Earner's Report

Well, I'm having to go down to only one post a day now because I'm so busy. I've commenced packing for my wedding in a couple months and have joined enough sites that I could literally go from one to the next to the next and stay busy all day. That being said, I realized that today marks the 2/3 mark in my experiment, and it's time for a report!

When I started out, if you had asked me how much I'd have earned by this point, I would have said, "Probably not much. Maybe a couple sales or so." I would have been wrong on both points, but for opposite reasons. I've earned a substantial amount--so much over the past couple days that you won't believe me if I tell you, so I'll keep quiet. But I do have a steady income now, and am incredibly optimistic about my goal of $100 per week. I haven't made any sales, though. At least not unless you count referrals. The blog has done nothing for me but help me organize my thoughts and eat up a lot of time (about an hour per post).

Where has my money been coming from? PTC sites, mostly. Clixsense has hit it off so well that if my sponsor doesn't automatically upgrade me in the next few days, I'll simply upgrade myself, now that I can easily afford that. I'm currently deciding which accounts of mine I should focus on upgrading. True, it's kind of frustrating that I'm working so hard on this money just to put it back in the system, but once I reach my goal I should be able to relax and use the money for what I want.

So, what have I done right, and what have I done wrong? Here are a couple lists.

What I've done right:

• I was willing to start small, working for pennies and fractions of pennies in the hopes that they would add up eventually.
• I looked into many different forms of income. If I had decided to do this blog and nothing else, then I would be overly frustrated by now, begging over and over again for someone to buy something or click on links.
• I put everything into it. I've spent hours and hours on traffic exchanges, only to get a few clicks and referrals as a result--but that's all it takes. A click here, a signup there, and before you know it you've got a downline! But you won't get any results if you only put in a few minutes every day.
• I didn't spend. I've come across so many tempting offers that required a payment that several times I've almost given in--I did give in, in a couple $1 instances which I regret. I've stayed with the free options, and now I'm making enough money that I can actually afford to look into some of the pricier options. But a rule I've formed is that I'm not going to put my own money into this. It has to be money I've earned online that I can earn again, or else there's a chance I'll ruin everything.
• I kept a log of my efforts. Even if it hasn't earned me a penny, I'm glad I started this blog. Writing down my thoughts, successes and failures has been an immense help in deciding where I should go next.

What I've done wrong:

• I did invest a couple dollars. I weakened because of some great advertising and gave away occasional dollars in the hopes of striking gold, which didn't happen. The big reason for that is because after they make you spend one dollar, they'll ask for more. The won't just leave it there.
• I put all my eggs in one basket. Several times this month, when I thought I found THE solution, I spent all of my time and effort on it, not bothering to look for a better alternative. I cringe when I think of the many wasted hours out there, the subscriptions I've never used, the possibilities I hadn't recognized.
• I didn't bother to look for reputations. I know, I've mentioned several times in the past few weeks that reputation is important, but I didn't listen to my own advice. I often blindly joined something or signed up for something only to learn later that it was a total scam. Ouch.

One week left until I end this project, cash in hand. I'll probably keep it going, more or less, but without the dedication that I've been giving it. I'm getting married, after all--I have enough on my plate as it is. Please follow me on Twitter for updates and tips, and check out Clixsense if you want to start generating your own online income!

Day 18.1: Marketing 101

I'm afraid I've been out with my family for most of today, so I have very little new to write. However, I've recently been talking with some pros at marketing about how they do it. As I've said before, I'm not a salesman. As a matter of fact, I'm very shy and socially awkward by nature. I need pointers on how to get others excited about things and motivated, even for times when I'm not trying to sell anything at all. So what did the experts have to say?

• Downplay the actual selling. I've made huge mistakes in this asking people to please join this or subscribe to that. However, there are tools designed that do a much better job at selling than I ever could. All I need to do is get them in contact with that tool, and I'm all set. Leave buying and selling out of it, and you'll be much ore successful.
• Be enthusiastic. Duh! Obviously you need to be enthusiastic! But you also need to be genuine in your enthusiasm. Why do you use a product yourself? Play out how well it's worked for you and how much you're loving it, and others will become curious.
• Be yourself. Your friends and family will know if you're copying and pasting from a pre-made script of any sort, and they're much more likely to take an interest in something if they know you're genuine.
• Sell to potential buyers. Don't waste your time selling something digital to your aunt who doesn't even have Facebook. Look for people who already have a history for that kind of thing and who would likely be interested.

Well, those are my starter points. In upcoming days I'll try to put those words into action myself, and then I'll give a report on how well those tips work. But they're words from the experts, and they make a lot of sense.

To get more tips and updates, please follow my Twitter feed. To make your own online income, check out Clixsense, and to join me on the best new up-and-coming social network, please e-mail me about Rippln and I'll send you an invite! Watch the video below for details.

Day 17.1: The Neobux Strategy

First of all, a progress check. When I dropped down to only two posts per day instead of three, my views dropped in proportion. It shouldn't have been a surprise--besides, the last post I made every day was also almost always the most successful. But at the same time, it does feel wonderful to be able to relax a little in the day, too, and invest more of my time and energy in things that actually pay.

By the end of the day, I'm hoping to be able to afford rented Neobux referrals, and so I thought it was fitting that I jot down a post on what I have discovered so far regarding the Neobux strategy. First, it is important to note that it is almost entirely different from Clixsense. Clixsense works on a faster and more immediate system. You can easily get two or three dollars a day without any referrals at all! But there's also a lot more chance involved. There's no way to hire referrals, so instead it is necessary to get actual people to sign up under you. What's available from one day to another also changes. You could find yourself getting a lot of money one day but struggling for a few cents the next. It's a gamble.

Neobux is different. There aren't nearly as many ways to get money through Neobux. It is almost entirely a PTC (paid to click) site, where your income comes from clicking ads and referring others. But  Neobux has one thing that Clixsense doesn't: rented referrals. I believe it costs about 60¢ to rent three referrals, and then three cents each to renew them every month. After reading up on their referral system, the best thing to do with Neobux is to keep investing your money in the referrals. If one of them isn't active, recycle it and get another. It takes a long time still before you start earning any real money, but it's also very dependable and well worth five minutes a day to keep up.

And that's the Neobux Strategy. Slow but dependable. I still don't think it holds up to Clixsense, which I would much more strongly advise if you were interested in earning money through a PTC. I advise joining one or both of these sites. They cost nothing more than a few minutes occasionally if you can spare it, and even if you can only check in once every few days the money still adds up. You've got nothing to lose!

Day 15.1: First Paycheck!

It is now official: I'm getting my first paycheck from Clixsense on Friday. I passed the minimum $8 today, so it's already guaranteed. Quite a fitting note for the halfway point of my project! Honestly, I wasn't expecting to cash out money this soon. What am I going to do with it? Reinvest it! There are actually several options. First, I plan on saving up for another week or two until I can upgrade my account--but if my sponsor upgrades me before then, my money will be mine to do with whatever I want. I've decided that I should put it into a downline builder or something, or possibly upgrade my account on a traffic exchange site. Actually, according to Free Internet Money (or Traffic Exchange Profits, sometimes I get the two mixed up), that's exactly what I should do. I forget which site is the most important that I upgrade, but it could double my traffic and explode my downline. And I already know that traffic exchanges can work if you put enough effort into it.

Clixsense has definitely proven to be a real money-maker for me, and I want to get an upgrade there as soon as I can. I'd be collecting profits from nine more people and I'd have a lower threshold for cashing out checks, so I'd get much more money faster. A no-brainer, if you ask me.

Eight dollars isn't much for two weeks of work. I admit that. Amazon Turk is faster and higher paying, so why don't I just focus on that instead? It's because Amazon Turk isn't going anywhere. There's no mode of advancement or downline profits. I earn what I make and no more. While that's better for the short run, I don't feel like it will be as profitable in the long run. Also, I might note that I haven't even earned a dollar on all of my other PTC sites combined!

I'm excited to see what will happen after I upgrade. Will the difference be noticeable or just a faint touch? Will I go from making money to making serious money? I'm not sure if I mentioned this before, but my ultimate goal is to be able to generate $100-$150 per week by the time I get married in the beginning of August. While I think I could do that on Amazon Turk, I'd prefer to have at least some of that money come in more automated by other sites. Fortunately, it looks like it might be possible!

Stay tuned for updates! In the meantime, please follow me on Twitter for tips, or join me in Clixsense or Free Internet Money. I'm already proving that it works, so why not give it a try for yourself?

Day 14.2: Sweet Success

I've made a couple discoveries this evening that have given me reason to celebrate! First, I've been discussing lately the success I've been having with Clixsense. After looking up my stats tonight, I realized that tomorrow I can easily take out my first payment! Not even ten bucks, but it should be enough to reinvest in something that will help out my traffic even more. Or I might just decide to leave it in until I can upgrade my account.

The second discovery is equally exciting: mailing lists work. I've heard it time and again in my research, but never wanted to get too involved with it. It sounded too much like spam, and I didn't need to be working on putting together a "list" on top of everything else. I'm busy enough as it is! But I did join a few safe-lists a while ago just to experiment with it. I get hundreds of e-mails to that address every day now, and so can only read a few of them in a sitting. Each one gives me "credits" for reading the email and clicking on the link, and each credit is one more person that I can send my own e-mails to. For the past week or so, I've been sitting around reading e-mails whenever I have some odd spare time and collecting credits. Yesterday I finally decided to try it out for myself. I sent out emails to two different lists and promptly forgot about them when I didn't get any immediate referrals. I was honestly puzzled this afternoon when I was checking up on my sites and saw that one of them had gotten nine views in the past day! I tried to think up what I was doing differently when I remembered the e-mails.

To put this into perspective, I've been using traffic exchanges right and left, milling through hundreds of sites every day on seven different exchanges. It's gotten me two views and one referral (with nine referrals under her). I didn't get any referrals with the letters I sent out, but I got nine views in one day for copying, pasting, and clicking--about five minutes total of work.

What does this mean? It means I'm going to be reading a lot more e-mails and storing up credits. It wasn't as responsive as the traffic exchanges, but hopefully it won't take many more e-mails to do that! If this e-mail thing works as well as I think it will, my Free Internet Money plan will have another step to it: join a safe-list. Any safe-list, and preferably two or three. Read e-mails for a week or so before sending your own, and you will get results. Period.

So those are my two bits of excitement today, and now I'm super encouraged to keep at it! For more information on the Free Internet Money plan I'm following, please click here. To join Clixsense and start generating your own online income, click here. And please come back tomorrow for more!

Day 14.1: Adaptability

As you can tell, if you're a regular reader of this blog, I did wind up deciding that I should spend less time here and more time out making money. I've had to adapt my plans to go along with what actually works, now that I've been in the game to get a bit of a feel. There are some things I've tried, like this blog, that haven't made me a cent, while Clixsense is proving to be more amazing with every visit.

That's one thing that's really hitting me at this point: adaptability. If you want to make it as a freelancer, you need to be willing to alter your plans. This is not to say that you should go hopping from one thing to another. Try several different plans simultaneously, and after a while shift your emphasis. Invest in what works, and drop what doesn't. I'm not ready to drop anything completely, yet. This blog has been a great success for me in terms of publicity, and it's been a fantastic log for me to record my progress, successes, and mistakes. But this isn't where the money's at.

The good news is that there is money out there and I am getting it, more every day. The Free Internet Money plan is actually working, and so I think that's where I should spend my time and effort!

Day 13.1: Investments: When Spending Earns

One of my unofficial rules for this 30-day experiment was to come into the game without a cent. The only money I was allowed to spend on advertising or optimization was money that I'd already earned. Fortunately, I've been able to keep that rule with little discomfort, using only free program to help me out. But what if I decided to break that rule?

I've had many options over the past 13 days to spend money as an investment to do better than I have been. Looking back, I'm glad I stuck to my rule, because there are so many things out there that I wouldn't have any funds left at this point, and most would have been spent on products I would later find were total ripoffs! But I've also begun to develop a strategy for when I do get enough money to invest (probably in a week or so, at the rate I'm currently taking it). How should I go about it? How can I know for sure something is worth it? I put together a bit of a list to help figure it all out:

1. Can I get a refund? Is there a money-back guarantee, and can I be sure to return the product/service if it doesn't pay for itself in the specified length of time?
2. Is it credible? Who is using this, and what success have they had? Can I find any dissatisfied customers on the Internet?
3. Is there a free alternative? I've been surprised at all the times I've found completely free alternatives to services that were charging an annoying amount of money.
4. Is this something I'd really use? There are some tools that I've gotten that, in the end, didn't do a thing for me. They did everything they were guaranteed to do very well, but it wasn't something that helped me. This goes back the the notion that you shouldn't go into online business unless you have a defined strategy to begin with. Does this service fit my strategy perfectly?
5. Is it a one-time payment or a subscription? Depending on the price and service, either one might be better than another. But frankly I don't want the horrible surprise of finding $20 taken out of my bank account every month for something that only gives me $5 in return.

There's my list so far, and I'll try to work on it more as the week progresses. I do think I could make a lot more with the right investment, but I don't want to be spending my money willy-nilly. Please follow me on Twitter (@onlineincome) for updates and tips, or join me in my Free Internet Money endeavor!

Day 12.2: Begging vs. Selling

"Please buy this. Please? It's a great thing to have. Super nifty. No, wait! Don't go. Please? Come back!"

That's just about what I sound like whenever I try to sell things, both online and in person. Whiney, annoying, and all-around obnoxious. No one wants to buy things from a person like that! I can't sell, and that's a problem. Pretty much every industry requires people to sell something--skills, impressions, tangible objects. Some people are fabulous at selling. They can get anyone to do anything just by saying things in the right tone of voice. How do they do that?

I've tried everything I can think of. I've tried to be bold; I've tried to be subtle; I've tried to make it as friendly and personal as I can, but nothing works. What do I do?

 Perhaps I need a new approach. I've quite proven that I am useless a salesmen myself... but there are others who can sell easily. What I need to do is find someone--or something--who can do the selling for me. I get frustrated when I see that sites that claim to be able to help with advertising only give me the tools but not the knowledge of how to use them. So far Traffic Exchange Profits has been the only company I know of that actually covers that part of the business, and it's very clever about it--it does its own selling. You'll notice that I haven't mentioned it very much on this blog, and there's a reason for it. I don't need to. Actually, the site advises against it. It's designed to be advertised only through traffic exchanges, and that makes sense. I'm selling something to people who, by definition, could use it. But it is a useful system, and if nothing else I'd recommend joining it just to see the training videos.

But that's the approach I need... a product that is literally designed to sell itself, placed in front of an audience who will actually like it. I know my sites are all awesome and that you should all join, but I just need to find a way to communicate that without getting you to tune out.

Please feel free to follow me on Twitter (@onlineincome) for more updates and tips, and by all means check out Traffic Exchange Profits or Free Internet Money. I'm going to keep saying that even if you don't respond.

Day 11.2: Free Internet Money

I've been out running errands ever since my last post, so I'm afraid I really don't have anything exciting to say. I don't even have a picture this time around because they're not loading onto the blog. As I can tell none of you have clicked on the link to the Free Internet Money site I keep mentioning, I guess I'll ignore your apathy and tell you a bit more about the strategy.

Basically, there are several good PTC (paid-to-click) sites out there, and it's a good idea to join the best ones. They're listed easily on Free Internet Money, so it's easy to go from one to the next and join the ones you haven't joined yet. The site also tells you how to bookmark them so you can open them up to open them every day easily.

There's also a lot of tools on Free Internet Money to aid with publicity and training for getting the best out of the sites. It's the training that's valuable. Learning from the experts how to get started is a great way to set out in the right direction, and all the sites listed have proven to be honest and paying sites.

Take a look! You'll be glad you did.

I'm sorry this post has been rather pathetic as far as my other posts, but I have been busier than usual. Hopefully if you visit the site, the information that you glean there will make up for it.

Day 11.1: What Kind of Online Worker Are You?

Eleven active referrals now for Clixsense. I decided to take money out of my Amazon Turk account to invest in an upgraded membership, because at this point I feel as if I'm practically losing money in not doing so. I didn't expect it to pick up so fast!

Anyway, this morning I've been thinking about all of the different approaches I've now tried to earn a profit online. As the list is getting rather long, I decided to jot it all down here along with my progress for each. Note that my own progress is affected very much by my personality, level of commitment and abilities. Feel free to try out any and every method here--people have been able to earn a substantial income from each of these.

1. Amazon Turk. A very dependable and controllable income, though it is hard to make more than a few cents at a time. You can do whatever kind of work you want, though, and new options are constantly turning up.
2. Writing freelance articles. Sites like Squidoo and Hubpages allow you to write articles without the responsibility of running a website. You can write about whatever you want whenever you want. However, your income depends on ads and selling products, so it's hard to earn a serious income from it.
3. Blogging. It's a lot of work to maintain a decent blog. I write three articles a day and then optimize them like crazy, and I've yet to make a cent. But the work is very independent, and you can focus on whatever area you want and specialize it. This blog has been as profitable as a college class in terms of education--as I maintain it and record my progress, I've learned a ton about online work.
4. PTCs. They felt like an amusing waste of time at first, but right now Clixsense is taking off like crazy, and a lot of the money is generated--meaning I'm literally making money in my sleep. It's nothing without referrals, but get even one person to sign up and it's very much worth it.
5. Online Marketing. I still feel like a little fish in a big sea here--so many people are clamoring for their ads to be noticed that it's easy to get overwhelmed when you're trying to market something yourself. I've had better success than most in this area--largely it just takes insane determination and long hours of work.
6. Joining an organized program. Free Internet Money and Traffic Exchange Profits are both programs that you can join on the side, promoting any business you want. This is my favorite form of monetization so far. You use plans made by others that have already proven to be successful. Wash, rinse, repeat. It's hard to find free plans, though, but it's a great learning opportunity as well.

I think that's it. I've had different levels of success with each one, and have actually had results very different than I was expecting. I honestly thought my writing would be the big moneymaker here, but it hasn't gotten me anything, whereas the silly paid-to-click sites are actually seriously paying. It's going to be interesting to see where I wind up by the end of the month!

Please follow me on Twitter for more tips and updates, and to see more of my personal strategy visit the Free Internet Money site. It's well worth your time!

Day 10.1: When PTCs Pay Off

Today it happened. It finally happened. I was going about my merry way, clicking adds and collecting pennies this morning, when I noticed that my Clixsense account had more money than it had last night. What??? I quickly checked the referral page, and it's started! If you're reading this (and you know who you are!) I really want to thank you for totally making my day today, and I can assure you that you'll feel the same way when you get your first referral. One of the things that I like about Internet marketing and PTCs is how the more I work it, the more the money score adds up and the closer I get to cashing out my first Internet pay check. And for you skeptics out there, I'm actually intending to cash it out by Monday.

Referrals make it all worthwhile in the end. Even without referrals, you can earn a steady profit and work your way up in many sites, and often sites will allow you to rent referrals as well. But the feeling of actually having a downline lets you know that you're doing something right. So I can assure you, if you've been thinking about going into this but still aren't convinced, it's worth it. It's so worth it.

So, the Free Internet Money plan is working! All I had to do was to follow the instructions on the site. Easy peasy, as one of my professors used to put it. Just have patience and stick to it!

And, for current and future referrals of mine...

Again, thank-you very much for making my plan a success, and I hope it works for you too!

Day 9.3: The Ten Rules of Conducting Business Online

1. If it feels like a scam, it probably is.
2. No one wants to buy, but everyone wants to sell.
3. You are the most gullible person in the industry.
4. Traffic does not equal money.
5. There's no such thing as fast, easy money.
6. There is no single perfect approach to online business.
7. If you're alone, you're dead.
8. Forget rule number one. If it feels like a scam, it might still be worth investigating.
9. You'll never be done optimizing your online business. Never.
10. Free Internet Money rocks.

A short post, but true. Please follow me on Twitter for more updates and tips!

Day 9.2: Making Traffic Work for You

When it comes to any kind of business on the Internet, whether blogging, marketing, or even just posting a cute little webcomic for the fun of it, there's one thing we can all agree on: traffic is awesome. Every site need traffic to survive, and when you know you've been getting it, that's a good feeling. Trust me. But for some of us, traffic isn't enough. If your online business is primarily for entertainment and recreation, traffic might be all you need--just the satisfaction of knowing that you've brightened someone else's day or spread awareness of an important issue. But if you're trying to make a living online... you'll need more than just traffic. You'll need active traffic. People who are willing to try out what you've got. People who like what you stand for so much that they decide to stand for it themselves

This blog is now at almost a thousand views. Considering it's only been up for a little over a week and that I'm a total newbie to online marketing, that's substantial. I get a warm fuzzy feeling whenever I think of someone else reading my own words or joining my Twitter feed. It's an author's dream come true! But one of the goals of this blog was to generate cash. Obviously, I knew that no matter how good of products I advertised and how well I advertised them, only a fraction of a percent would click a link, and even fewer people than that would go through with something--even if it was free and easy and awesome, like Clixsense. Almost a thousand views... and not one click. Not even out of curiosity. I'm giving this blog a full thirty days to generate so much as a cent, but my point is this: if I'm getting traffic, if I've got the whole world hanging on my words, but no one clicks, I can't make a cent off of this. Traffic without action is dead. (Well, not entirely, I really do love views and readers!)

So what can be done about it? My problem is simple. I need to find a way to make my traffic work for me. Unfortunately, I lack the tools and the knowledge to do so. As the old adage goes, you can bring a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. This is especially frustrating when I consider my own willingness to be an active member of traffic. I always want to explore and learn, and it's hard for me to understand why not everyone does.

So what's my strategy? I might not know the secret to making my traffic work for me, but there are people out there, masters of the Internet, who do. I have taken it upon myself to figure out what there secrets are and how I can replicate them! I've already got a start. Traffic Exchange Profits (I dare you to click the link!) is a program built around the idea of driving traffic to action. While it hasn't fully answered all my questions, it has a free video series explaining the concepts involved. I highly recommend them.

I don't know how to move my traffic to action, but I'm going to find out! Follow me on Twitter for more updates and tips, and to take a look at my own strategy on making money online, check out Free Internet Money and Turbo Income Charger. Cool stuff's happening!

Day 9.1: Setting Standards, Setting Limits

Two things that are especially on my mind this morning are the importance of setting standards and the importance of setting limits. Since I started this blog, I personally set a standard for myself that I have practiced every day since then--write three posts per day, share it on the right websites and search engines, look for ways to improve the system. I've said again and again that it's a lot of work. You could easily make a full-time job out of doing exactly what I've been doing, and if that's something you can't afford, then you'd better look out. The Internet is a vast and growing whirlpool. If you have Facebook you know what I'm talking about. It draws you in, and before you know it, hours have passed and you've hardly done a thing that would help. Hence, the importance of setting limits.

Hopefully you already know the grand rule of bidding. When you're bidding on something from Ebay or Amazon, you need to decide beforehand how much you're willing to pay. If you don't, adding just a few more cents and a few more cents becomes all too easy, and before you know it you've paid $65 for something that should have cost $40. Ouch. You need to set limits, and you need to stay with them. It's the only way to get a genuinely good deal on business sites, and it's also a vital tip for any form of freelance work online.

Let's say you decide to start up a blog, like this one. You'll go for one post a day and get all the publicity you physically can without paying. You travel from site to site, search engine to directory, posting links to your blog article everywhere. You investigate all of the different methods of publicity, join more programs than you can keep track of, and sign up for all the newsletters. You do your homework, and you're not going to leave any stone unturned. You've got patience and you've got grit, and you're going for it! While I have to say it's a brilliant start, and I have to applaud you if you can keep up with that for even so much as a week, let's get realistic. Do you have time for that? What about your actual day job/homework, family, social life? What about giving your mind a break from it all and just playing a dumb game or reading a book for a while? You need to take care of yourself. You can't stop living all for the sake of a program.

Fortunately, there are solutions to this, and they're easy. The first is to plan. Decide what path you'll follow, and stick to it. You'll save a lot of time and energy if you don't even bother with alternatives after a certain point. Does it fit in with your goal? Include it. Is it a bit different? Don't even bother. The second is to set limits. How much time are you willing to put into this daily? An hour or two? Before opening or turning on your computer, look at the clock. Pick a time you'll be free, and work diligently until then. When the time's up, exit your programs and go on to enjoy the day.

You can be an Internet entrepreneur without selling your soul to the Internet. Remember--you shouldn't work for it, but rather make ways for it to work for you. That's how it's supposed to be, and that's the best way to succeed.

Please follow me on Twitter for more follow-up tips and updates, and check out my strategy by visiting Free Internet Money today!

Day 8.3: Is Online Marketing for You?

This has been an exciting day for me, because today I was finally able to put my money-making plan into action! Please see my last post for information about that. But my work on that, and on this whole project, is far from over. Today I spent hours figuring out how to optimize my new system, visiting and joining site after site so that I could learn more about what's out there. Things are clicking into place brilliantly, but there are a few things I thought I should make note of in this blog, primarily that my system will not work for everyone.

It's simple, it's logical, and it works. Guaranteed generated income. But it's also time-consuming and repetitive work. You can't passively just sign up for Clixsense and expect others to sign up under you. You have to promote your link. You have to be active in getting others to notice. And while my system provides all the necessary venues to do that, it will still take a good chunk of time out of your day. There's no such thing as easy money, and even in a system this simple you have to earn every penny. But don't get depressed--there are plenty of good things about online marketing too!

If you're thinking about getting involved, but not entirely sure, here are some questions to ask yourself:

1. Am I willing to follow leads? As a marketer, you'll be interacting a lot with other marketers, exchanging services and providing traffic. You'll have to join a lot of sites and stay active to keep your accounts open. If you want only a one-stop-shop, online marketing probably isn't for you.
2. Am I willing to start small? Remember, you probably won't make anything at first. You'll be working long hours while seeing few results, all to invest in a hopeful future. It's an investment.
3. Will I stick with this through thick and thin? Remember, patience is the key! There will be days when you want to quit. It's going to look bleak and hopeless, and you'll feel like you're losing a lot of time for nothing.

Any form of online marketing is serious work, but with patience and determination it can really pay off.

My new system focuses on optimizing the process to generate maximum referrals in the shortest time possible, and as I continue to work on it, things will hopefully keep getting faster and easier.

Do you think you have what it takes? It's surprisingly simple and automated, so don't be afraid to poke around and see what works for you. Check out Free Internet Money and Turbo Income Charger for all the information you need to start generating an income! In the meantime, please follow my Twitter feed for updates and tips and hints for making and saving money online.

Day 8.2: Getting Rich Online

Ok, I think my plan's ready to go live! More than that, I've actually already started putting it into action, and I'm really excited! So what is this plan?

First, let's look at things logically. The other day, I was investigating various cases of people who actually did get rich from PTC sites. I tried to find a pattern in all these stories, and I found it. There are two things (well, three things, actually) that are required to make any serious money online. Nothing else matters--having a large Twitter following, owning your own website.

What are these three things? Let's put them in a list.

1. Patience/Perseverance. All of the cases I looked at were people who have been working at this for years. They didn't start earning $500 paychecks over night. If you want this to succeed, you need to be willing to work consistently with little immediate progress.
2. Referrals. I've already written a post entirely about referrals and how they're practically impossible to get. However, I've been doing careful research lately and I think I have found the key! It will take some setup effort, but it's possible to get your message out to all the right people in a way that will draw them in. I've gone through the whole process now, and I can tell you it is very doable!
3. God's will. Please don't laugh here. I am a very strong Christian, which I really should have shared much earlier in this blog. I pray over my decisions every day, and if there's one thing I've learned it's this: God's will trumps man's logic. You could get everything right, but it'll fail if it's not in God's will. Also note that God is not a magic genie who grants all your wishes. It is a serious matter, and if this plan is not in God's will I will not succeed. I heavily urge any of you Christians out there to pray about this before going any further. Ask God if taking this path is really a wise decision and examine your motives.

All right, now that we have all of the pieces, let's put them together. Over the past couple days I have been researching how to build downlines like crazy, looking for one good option that worked that wouldn't cost me a cent. I found two, and they link together perfectly to generate solid, high traffic that will be loyal to your site. Let's take a look!

1. Step 1. Get a gmail account. If you already have one, get another one. This is a surprisingly important step, and the sooner you take care of it, the better. This is the site you'll use whenever you "subscribe" to things.
2. Step 2. Go to freeinternetmoney.biz. It's a very simple system that not only allows you to consolidate multiple trustworthy PTCs under one URL but also gives you fantastic tools to manage them and organize them. It's a very user-friendly service, and if you just follow the steps offered for setup you'll be well on your way to success. It's a brilliant site and very handy if you want to do anything at all with PTCs.
3. Step 3. Once you're done with freeinternetmoney.biz, go to turboincomecharger.com. This is how you'll get your traffic. It has tons of different venues available, such as forms, safelists, and a company that guarantees you tons of traffic and referrals (I haven't tried that part out yet, but it seems to be good). Remember: this is a tool. You need to have initiative to get it to go. This site just shows you what to do with that initiative so that you won't waste your time.

There you have it. All the tools for generated a solid online income. Of course, the plan is flexible. You don't have to do it at all the way I recommend if you don't want to. I simply tried to find the best way to simplify the referral problem for free (oh yeah, none of these sites cost money). And if you can get good referrals, you've got it made, simple as that. Just keep in mind that you won't make a fortune overnight. You have to work it, and you have to be intentional about it. But now there's no excuse! So get plugged in, make money, and enjoy!

And in case you were wondering, I'm still going to keep up with this blog, and I'm still going to look for ways to make my system even easier and simpler. I hope you enjoy the system and that it works for you as well as it is for me!

Day 6.3: The Importance of Earning Pennies

First of all, I really want to thank everyone who's read my last couple entries. I was terrified to continue this blog after leaving Reddit, but I still got 100 views! Awesome! Seriously, without you guys, I'd be nowhere. But on to my next topic: Earning pennies. Who cares about pennies anymore? I've heard debates over whether the United States should drop that monetary unit, and people in general don't do a thing when seeing a penny on the ground. Sure you could earn pennies online, but what's the point?

For one thing, 100 pennies equal a dollar, and 100 dollars equals a good day's income. If you can figure out how to maximize penny earnings, you might start actually making money before you know it! It's pretty obvious that anything claiming that you can "get rich quick" is a scam, even though I confess I like digging a bit deeper into that stuff than most people. But what happens if you set your standards low. A dollar a day? Ten cents a day? That's when the good options start turning up. Lots of sites will pay you to do x, but by "paying" you might get only a fraction of a cent for each x you do. When most people realize that that's all it is, they give up instantly and forget about the whole thing. But what most people forget is this: pennies add up. If you join a PTC site, such as Clixsense, you can't expect to make more than ten to fifteen cents a day, and with many sites it's even less than that. But if you keep at it slowly but surely, it adds up into money. At ten cents a day, spending only a few minutes earning it, you'll have three dollars by the end of a month, and forty by the end of a year. Big whoop. Forty dollars a year is nothing. But what if you join ten of those sites? Thirty extra dollars a month, or four hundred a year, isn't bad. The trick to this kind of site is to keep at it. It doesn't take long to do and has minimal effort--seriously, clicking you mouse every fifteen seconds while watching TV is about as easy as it gets. You'll feel dumb at first, but when you cash out four hundred dollars at the end of the year it'll feel well worth it.

It goes even further than that. Let's say you get ten of your friends to join one of the sites (or one of your friends to join all ten) and get paid a measly ten percent of what they make. Assuming they stick at it as long as you do (which actually isn't that likely), you'd get an extra forty dollars a year. Ten friends on ten sites? Eight hundred dollars. Keep in mind that while this sounds really easy, and while technically you could make a fortune over night doing this, it's not going to happen. See my last article to understand why.

The bottom line is this: if you can find a way to multiply your pennies, they'll start turning into dollars. So, how do you get started? A common way is through PTC sites like the one I mentioned above, Clixsense. Swagbucks is another fun alternative where you can make pennies just by playing games and surfing the web. Or you can find odd tasks to do on Amazon Turk or on sites like Protypers.com, which pays for you to type captchas. There's a ton of variety out there when you're looking to make only a few cents, and it's definitely worth keeping up!

I hope this information's been useful to you, and please come back tomorrow for more tips on making and saving money online! In the meantime, why don't you follow me on Twitter or join up with me on Clixsense, Swagbucks or Protypers (code 611N)? You won't regret it!